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Aerosols have always been in the atomosphere, they are necessary for the well-being of Earth (as long as they come in the right amounts). Forest fires, volcanoes, and dust storms can all result in an increased concentration of aersol particles in the troposphere and stratosphere. The most drastic changes due to a natural source are volcanoes. An example of the scale of certain volcanic eruptions is the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. This eruption inserted roughly 20,000,000 tons of SO2 into the atomosphere, and cooled global tmperatures by a half degree for the next year. (Source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Aerosols/aerosol2.html |
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